Researching Legislators

A wealth of information is available in print and online about current and former legislators. The quickest route to biographical information is the Library's Legislators Past & Present database, but this list can help researchers dig deeper into the collections of the Legislative Reference Library and other publications and libraries.

Information from the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library and the Legislature

Journal of the Minnesota House of Representatives, (1994-present online), and Journal of the Minnesota Senate (1995-present online). Journals provide floor votes and indexes to bills by topic and author. LRL has a nearly complete collection in paper.

Legislative District Clipping Files, 1971-Present. These files of mainly newspaper articles are available in the Library on microfiche, in paper files, and in electronic files, depending on the date. Articles on legislators after they left office may be found in the Library's Personality Files.

Legislative Time Capsule. Discover information on the sessions in which a member served, including leadership data, committee membership, and some member seating charts.

Resources from the Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota Historical Society Catalog. Some former members
have sent their files to the Minnesota Historical Society. To determine if there are papers from the person you are researching, search the catalog.

Minnesota County and City Historical Societies, Research Centers, and Libraries

Libraries. Contact the libraries in the area where the
member served to determine if they have collected information on them.

Minnesota Historical Organizations. Determine what county/counties the member
represented, then contact the corresponding historical organizations to determine if they have collected information on them.

Other

Minnesota Reflections. Photographs of former members may be included, or references to legislators in scanned publications.

Politics in Minnesota: the Directory. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Political Press Inc., 1995-Present. In addition to biographical information on legislators, the annotations include descriptions of the districts they represent.